Clear Lake pool compromise reached

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, May 25, 2004

As part of its "cost cutting measures," the Clear Lake City Community Association board of trustees has greatly reduced the number of hours each of its pools will be open this summer.

In addition to the rates going up (families must pay $95 for a pool tag), the pools were only to be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"We formed a group called Save Our Pools and put out flyers and went door to door," said Joseph Gutheinz, an attorney and homeowner in Meadowgreen. "Apparently we did some good," he said.

At its regular meeting last week, the board of trustees agreed to rotate the days the pools will be open. With the new schedule, there will be a pool open in one of the neighborhoods every day of the week.

"It is a victory along the lines of what we had hoped for," Gutheinz said, although he said he still has concerns about what affect the tightening budget will have on the future of his community.

"We went from the pools being open from six days to three, and it used to be that trash pickup was free. Now we have to pay for that." he said. "Where will we be a year from now?" Gutheinz said the consequences go beyond the inconvenience factor.

He said a lot of homeowners in the community are worried about their property values decreasing. "Pools are our biggest selling point," said Gutheinz.

"We want to make sure that when somebody drives into this community and they're looking to buy property that they're not told they can only go to the pool three days a week." He said residents would accept a modest increase in the mill assessment if that is what's needed, although that will take an act of the state legislature.

"We don't want our pools closed," he said. "It would be a direct stab into the equity of our property."